Apparatus and Method for Integrating Short-Range Wireless Personal Area Networks for a Wireless Local Area Network Infrastructure

ABSTRACT

A network system comprises a first logic block providing a link to a first network via an access point of a WLAN and a second logic block communicating with a node of a second network (such as a WPAN) and configured to provide a link between the node and the first network via the access point. The network system is configured to maintain continuous connections to both the access point and the node while receiving power. The second logic block can communicate with the node using a modified communication protocol that is only partially compliant with an 802.11x communications protocol. A wireless hub can integrate a WPAN with a WLAN including, in part, a wireless circuit compliant with the WLAN standard (such as an 802.11x standard), a processor, and a memory. The wireless circuit can connect to the WPAN without losing connectivity (such as association and synchronization) to the WLAN.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application incorporates by reference herein U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/376,753, filed Mar. 14, 2006, hereinafterreferred to as “Vleugels I”, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.60/661,746.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to wireless communications. Moreparticularly, the invention relates to seamlessly integratingshort-range wireless personal area networks (“WPANs”) into longer-rangewireless local area networks (“WLANs”).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 depicts some parameters associated with a few existing andemerging standards for wireless connectivity. Based on targeted rangeand supported data rates, these standards can be grouped into fourcategories: wireless wide area networks (“WWANs”), wireless metropolitanarea networks (“WMANs”), wireless local area networks (“WLANs”) andwireless personal area networks (“WPANs”).

An example of a wireless local area network (“WLAN”) is an 802.11x (x=a,b, g, n, etc.) network. An 802.11x NIC (network interface card) or802.11x built-in circuitry might be used for networking an electronicdevice to the outside world, or at least to devices at other nodes of aWLAN 802.11x network.

The 802.11x specifications uses unlicensed, free spectrum in either the2.4 GHz or 5 GHz frequency bands, supporting data rates of up to 54Megabits per second (Mbps) and ranges of 300 feet and more. The 802.11xstandard, also known as Wi-Fi, was adopted several years ago, and is nowbeing widely deployed for WLAN connectivity in homes, offices and publicplaces like airports, coffee shops and university campuses.

The adoption and deployment of 802.11x-compliant equipment hasexperienced tremendous growth in recent years. The majority of laptopsmanufactured today include a built-in wireless circuit compliant withsome variant of the 802.11x standard. While originally devised forenabling wireless network connectivity (“wireless Ethernet”), WLANconnectivity based on the 802.11x standard is rapidly finding its way innew applications like mobile phones—primarily driven by the adoption ofVoice-over-IP (“VoIP”)—and consumer electronics (home entertainment,video streaming, etc.). In addition, with the development of the new802.11n specification, and the proliferation of citywide 802.11xdeployment initiatives, the 802.11x standard is expanding into longerrange applications.

FIG. 2 illustrates a typical 802.11x WLAN configuration ininfrastructure mode 1. Although the 802.11x standard supports two modesof operation, namely ad-hoc mode and infrastructure mode, theinfrastructure mode is used more often. In the infrastructure mode, adedicated 802.11x wireless circuit, also called an access point (“AP”),is necessary for and manages an infrastructure network. AP 2 isconfigured specifically to coordinate the activities of theinfrastructure network and to enable connectivity to, for example, theInternet or other WLANs via an Internet router 3, which may be disposedin AP 2. Other 802.11x-compliant wireless circuits, hereafteralternatively referred to as stations (“STAs”) 4 can become a member ofthe infrastructure network by going through an authentication andassociation procedure. Additional security procedures may be required aswell. Once associated with the infrastructure network, a STA 4 cancommunicate with AP 2. A STA 4 may communicate with other STAs 4 ofinfrastructure network 1 via AP 2. Furthermore, a STA 4 may communicatewith STAs of other infrastructure networks (not shown) via AP 2. On aregular basis, the STAs listen to the beacons and pending traffic fromthe AP 2.

In contrast to WLAN, no such unifying standard exists for WPAN. Instead,a number of proprietary and standardized communication protocols havebeen and are being developed for establishing short-range WPANconnectivity. Standardized protocols include the Bluetooth specification(based on the IEEE 802.15.1 standard), the recently approved Zigbeespecification (based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard), and theUltra-Wideband (“UWB”) specification which is still under development.In addition, there are several proprietary protocols in the unlicensed27 MHz, 900 MHz, and 2.4 GHz frequency bands developed for the solepurpose of providing short-range wireless connectivity. Examples includeCypress Semiconductor's proprietary wireless USB solution, or Logitech'sproprietary FastRF solution. The lack of a unified standard is hinderingthe widespread adoption of WPAN technologies. In addition, several WPANcommunication protocols co-exist in the same 2.4-GHz frequency band as acommonly used version of the WLAN protocol. Because they use differentmethods of accessing the wireless medium, and are not synchronized withone another, severe interference may result when devices conforming tosuch standards are made to co-exist and are positioned in the samephysical vicinity.

One alternative for avoiding the above mentioned problems when seekingto establish interoperability between WPAN and WLAN networks, is to usenetwork interface circuitry based on the WLAN protocol in WPAN STAs.However, the power dissipation of the resulting STA would be severalorders of magnitude higher than what is acceptable in typical WPANapplications. WPAN technologies are typically used to establishcommunication with a remote battery-operated device for which it isinconvenient, impractical, or may be impossible to replace batteries.Examples include security sensors in windows, wearable or implantedmedical monitoring devices or environmental sensors to monitortemperature, humidity or other environmental parameters. To minimize thefrequency at which batteries need replacement, maximizing the batterylife is of paramount importance, thus placing stringent requirements onthe power that can be dissipated in establishing and maintaining thewireless communication link.

The power dissipation of a standard WLAN STA is several orders ofmagnitude higher than what is acceptable in most battery-operateddevices for a number of reasons. First, in order to be able tocommunicate with the AP, which may be, for example, 300 feet away, astandard WLAN STA transmits at high transmit powers (up to 20 dBm) andis also required to receive relatively weak signals, attenuated heavilyby the path loss it encounters in the over-the-air transmission. Second,the WLAN must adhere to stringent receiver sensitivity requirements.Both the transmit and receive requirements result in relatively largepower dissipation in the network interface circuits. Furthermore, WLANstypically operate at relatively high data rates (up to 54 Mbps). It isthus undesirable to have a STA that is part of an infrastructure networkto communicate at lower data rates, since such a STA will slow down theentire infrastructure network. This is the case because some of thecommunication between the AP and its associated STAs occurs at thelowest common data rate supported by all STAs. The noise and linearityrequirements associated with transmitting at high data rates thus resultin large power dissipation of the wireless 802.11x wireless circuit.Furthermore, there is significant protocol overhead associated with theservices and procedures required to establish and maintain anassociation with an infrastructure network. This overhead translatesdirectly in higher power dissipation. As a member of an infrastructurenetwork coordinated by an AP, the STA has, on a regular basis, to listento the beacons transmitted by the AP. Also, although the 802.11xstandard specifies power save modes that allow the STA to skip some ofthe beacons, the STA is still required to wake up on a regular basis tomaintain association and synchronization with the AP.

Accordingly, a need continues to exist for a method and apparatus thatovercome the above-described problems and enable seamless integration ofWPAN into WLAN infrastructure, and at power dissipation levels that meetthe stringent requirements of battery-operated devices.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A wireless hub for integrating a wireless personal area network (“WPAN”)seamlessly into a wireless local area network (“WLAN”) includes, inpart, a wireless circuit compliant with the WLAN standard, a processorcoupled to the wireless circuit and a memory module that is coupled tothe wireless circuit and the processor.

In some embodiments, the WLAN standard is the 802.11x standard. In suchan embodiment, the wireless circuit is an 802.11x-compliant wirelesscircuit, and the memory module may be integrated with the wirelesscircuit. The hub further includes software modules forming a softwareplatform that allows the wireless circuit to connect to both the WPANand WLAN. In accordance with one embodiment, the software platformallows the wireless circuit to connect to the WPAN, without losingconnectivity (such as association and synchronization) to the WLAN. Inanother embodiment, the wireless circuit is configured to connect to theWLAN and WPAN alternately. In some embodiments, an operating systemenables the operation of the wireless hub, thereby enabling users towrite application-specific application software. The operating systemmay be Windows XP, Windows CE, Linux, Symbian, or the like, that may beused to develop additional applications.

In accordance with one embodiment, the wireless hub is seamlesslyintegrated into an electrical power outlet. This allows the hub to beunobtrusively and conveniently integrated in a home, business orindustrial setting. Such embodiments are hereinafter alternativelyreferred to as “Wi-Fi-enabled power outlets”. As is known, “Wi-Fi” isoften used to refer to “wireless fidelity”, and refers to 802.11x-basedradio technologies.

Advantageously, the present invention extends the communication range ofpower-sensitive battery-operated devices and allows power-sensitivebattery operated devices to become part of the larger WLANinfrastructure thus enabling monitoring and control from any locationthat is within the range covered by the WLAN In addition, sincebattery-operated devices are IP addressable and since the AP of the WLANcan be connected to the Internet via an Internet router, thebattery-operated devices may be monitored and controlled from anylocation when access to the Internet is available. The longercommunication range and seamless integration into the larger WLANinfrastructure is obtained without incurring the power penalty that istypically unavoidable in longer range communication and is inherent tothe protocol overhead of typical WLAN networks.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent upon consideration of the following detailed descriptionand the accompanying drawings, in which like reference designationsrepresent like features throughout the figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a number of parameters associated with a few existing andemerging standards for wireless connectivity, as known in the prior art.

FIG. 2 illustrates some of different components of an 802.11x WLAN ininfrastructure mode, as known in the prior art.

FIG. 3 illustrates an apparatus configured to integrate a wirelesspersonal area network (“WPAN”) into a wireless local area network(“WLAN”), in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a number of WPANs integrated into a WLAN, inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a simplified high-level block diagram of a power-sensitivestation (“PS-STA”), in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention

FIG. 6 is a simplified high-level block diagram of a wireless hubconfigured for use as a bridge between a WPAN and a WLAN.

FIG. 7 illustrates a WPAN used for remote monitoring and controlling, inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating various devices operating as partof a primary wireless network (“PWN”), a secondary wireless network(“SWN”), or both, wherein the SWN operates using an SWN protocol thatco-exists with the PWN protocol.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a subpart of the elements of FIG.8, in greater detail.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a secondary network includingmultiple WPAN peripherals (“PERs”).

FIG. 11 illustrates method to coordinate the communication between aWPAN coordinator (“COORD”) and multiple WPAN peripherals.

FIG. 12 illustrates an alternative frame exchange sequence for thecoordination of multiple WPAN peripherals.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 3 illustrates a wireless personal area network (“WPAN”) 10integrated with wireless local area network (“WLAN”) 6 to form anintegrated network 5, in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention. In the embodiments described below, WLAN 6 is compliant withthe 802.11x specification. It is understood, however, that the WLAN maybe compliant with other protocols, such as WiMax. WLAN 6 may operateeither in ad-hoc or in infrastructure mode. Moreover, the followingdescription is provided with reference to the infrastructure mode ofoperation of WLAN 6. It is understood that the present disclosureequally applies to the ad-hoc or any other mode. The infrastructure WLAN6 is shown as including an AP 7 and one or more STAs 8. STAs 8 areassociated with and synchronized to AP 7 and periodically listen tobeacons from AP 7.

Each STA 8 is configured to include an 802.11x-compliant wirelesscircuit, such as a wireless enabled computer, a wireless PersonalDigital Assistant, a Wi-Fi enabled cellular phone, or the like. The AP 2can be connected to the Internet via an Internet router 9. Internetconnectivity can be established through any number of communicationservices, including Digital Subscriber Line (“DSL”), cable, satellite,or the like, as is well known.

WPAN 10 is shown as including one or more power-sensitive stations 11(“PS-STA”). A PS-STA is defined herein as a device that isbattery-operated and for which maximizing battery-life is beneficial tothe application and/or user. Examples of PS-STAs include peripherals andaccessories for personal computers, cellular phones, home entertainmentaccessories such as remote controls, monitoring devices for security,automation medical applications, or the like.

In accordance with one embodiment, a PS-STA is typically in a sleep modethe majority of the time, only waking up occasionally to communicate andexchange information with the outside world. In some systems describedherein, each PS-STA 11 is equipped with a wireless circuit that cancommunicate directly with a standard 802.11x-compliant wireless circuit.PS-STAs 11 however are not required to be fully compliant with the802.11x specification; some PS-STAs 11 may have reduced powerdissipation thereby extending the battery life.

In embodiments in which PS-STAs 11 are not fully compliant with the802.11x specification, the drivers or firmware of the 802.11x-compliantwireless circuit at the other end of the communication link (i.e., thedevice with which the PS-STA is interacting) may require modification.Thus, in some implementations, both the wireless circuit at the otherend as well as the PS-STA are 802.11x-compliant, while in others thewireless circuit at the other end is 802.11x-compliant, but the PS-STAis not a fully compliant 802.11x wireless circuit, while in yet otherimplementations the driver or firmware of the 802.11x-compliant wirelesscircuit at the other end of the link requires modifications toaccommodate the PS-STA. Integrated network 5 is also shown as includinga wireless hub 12 adapted to facilitate seamless communication betweenthe WLAN and the WPAN. The wireless hub 12 includes, in part, a wireless802.11x-compliant wireless circuit that can communicate with the AP 7disposed in infrastructure WLAN 6 as well as with PS-STAs 11 disposed inWPAN 10. If more than one PS-STA is present in the WPAN, the wirelesshub coordinates the timing and communication with each of the PS-STAs.In some embodiments, it may be desirable to shift as much as possible ofthe protocol overhead associated with the communication between wirelesshub 12 and the PS-STAs 11 such as, for example, access to the medium,reservation of the medium, synchronization, etc., onto the wireless hub12, where power consumption is much less of a concern compared to thePS-STA. In such cases, the driver or firmware of the 802.11x-compliantcomponents disposed in wireless hub 12 may require modification

To operate, wireless hub 12 is placed within the range of the AP 7 ofthe infrastructure WLAN 6; this range is typically on the order of 300+feet. The wireless hub 12 is also be placed within the range of each ofthe PS-STAs 11 in the WPAN 10 The PS-STAs 11 typically have a range ofabout 30 feet. This range can be longer or shorter depending on theapplication.

In one embodiment, the wireless hub 12 (alternatively referred to hereinbelow as a “hub”) is seamlessly integrated within an electrical poweroutlet. In a different embodiment, the hub can be a separate device thatcan be plugged into a power outlet. The wireless hub 12 can also beintegrated inside other electronic devices, such as light bulbs, lightswitches, thermostats, energy meters, personal computers, PersonalDigital Assistants (“PDAs”), cellular phones, home entertainmentequipment and the like.

In some embodiments, a multitude of WPANs 13 may be so configured so asto be coupled to and in communication with a single WLAN 14, as shown inFIG. 4. Each WPAN 13 is coupled to the WLAN 14 by using a wireless hub15, as described above. If WPANs 13 are configured to operateindependently, no additional coordination is required and each wirelesshub 15 decides autonomously when to communicate with each of itsrespective PS-STAs under its control. However, in cases where additionalcoordination between the different WPANs is desirable, the necessarytiming and control information can be exchanged between the wirelesshubs 15 via the longer-range WLAN 14.

FIG. 5 illustrates some of the components disposed in a PS-STA 11, inaccordance with one embodiment. PS-STA 11 typically includes, in part, abattery 16, a sensor or stimulus unit 17, a clock or crystal 18, awireless circuit 19 and an antenna 20. Although not shown, othercomponents like capacitors, resistors, inductors, an external poweramplifier (“PA”) and an external low-noise amplifier (“LNA”) may also beincluded in PS-STA 11. Wireless circuit 19 is configured so as tocommunicate over the physical layer (“PHY”) of a standard802.11x-compliant circuit chip disposed in the wireless hub (see FIGS. 3and 4). Wireless circuit 19 may be an embedded System-on-Chip (“SoC”),having disposed therein a radio 21 operating, for example, in theunlicensed 2.4-GHz and/or 5-GHz frequency bands, a baseband modem 22,dedicated control and datapath logic 23, a central processing unit(“CPU”) 24, a memory module 25 and interface circuitry 26. CPU 24 andmemory module 25 are used to implement the portion of the communicationprotocol that is not implemented in the dedicated control and datapathlogic (also referred to as the 802.11x device drivers), together withany application-specific software. Wireless circuits are well known inthe art and are not described herein.

FIG. 6 shows various blocks of a wireless hub, such as wireless hubs 12and 15 shown respectively in FIGS. 3 and 4, in accordance with oneembodiment. The wireless hub acts as a pivot and provides communicationbetween the corresponding WPAN and WLAN. The wireless hub includes an802.11x-compliant wireless circuit 27, a processing unit 28 coupled toor integrated with the 802.11x-compliant circuit, a memory module 29that is coupled to or integrated with the 802.11x-compliant circuit, acrystal or clock 30, and an antenna 38. The 802.11x-compliant circuit 27is shown as including a radio 31 operating, for example, in theunlicensed 2.4-GHz and/or 5-GHz frequency bands, a baseband modem 32,and dedicated control and datapath logic 33. Interface circuitry 34provides an interface to the processing unit 28 and memory module 29.Wireless hub may be connected to the power grid, in which case nobatteries are needed to operate the device. Regulator 35 is adapted toregulate the supply. The wireless hub may further include variouspassive components like capacitors, resistors and/or inductors and anexternal power amplifier (“PA”) and/or external low-noise amplifier(“LNA”) (not shown).

The wireless hub further includes a number of software modules forming asoftware platform 36 that enable circuit 29 to communicate with both theWPAN and WLAN. In one embodiment, the software platform 36 enablescircuit 27 to connect to the WPAN, without losing connectivity (such asassociation and synchronization) to the WLAN, as described in VleugelsI. Circuit 27 can be connected to the WLAN and WPAN in alternatingcycles, however added latency would be incurred.

In some embodiments, the wireless hub may further include an operatingsystem 37 that may be used to write application-specific software. Theoperating system may be, for example, Windows XP, Windows CE, Linux,Symbian, or any operating system that may enable writing ofapplications.

The processing unit 28 and memory module 29 are used to implement thatportion of the communication protocol that is not implemented indedicated control and datapath logic; this portion of the communicationsprotocol is referred to as the 802.11x device driver. If thecommunication protocol between the wireless hub and a PS-STA is modifiedto reduce power consumption of the PS-STA, the 802.11x device driver mayalso require slight modification to accommodate such changes. The CPUand memory module are also used for the implementation of the softwareplatform that enables concurrent or alternating WLAN/WPAN connectivity,and can furthermore be used to run application-specific software.

The following example is provided to further aid in understanding theinvention. FIG. 7 illustrates a WPAN used for remote monitoring andcontrolling, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.A user desires to check one or more security monitoring devices 39inside or around his house 40 while at work 41. Each security monitoringdevice is a PS-STA and is wirelessly connected to a Wi-Fi-enabled poweroutlet 42. The Wi-Fi-enabled power outlet is furthermore within therange of a WLAN infrastructure network 43 which the user is assumed tohave set up at his home.

The WLAN infrastructure network 43 is adapted to establish communicationwith the Internet via an Internet router 44 that is coupled to the AP45. At the office, the user has access to a laptop 46 that is equippedwith an 802.11x-compliant wireless circuit. This circuit is associatedwith a WLAN infrastructure network 47 that has been set up in the user'soffice 41. The WLAN network 47 is adapted to establish communicationwith the Internet via an Internet router 48 that is coupled to theinfrastructure's network AP 49. The connection at the office may bewireless or wired. In a wired office environment, the user's laptop ishooked up directly through the Internet router 48 with a cable, withoutmaking use of the WLAN 47.

Application software on the user's laptop 46 allows the user to pollinformation from a specific PS-STA at home. To do so, the user sends apoll request, which contains the information required to unambiguouslyidentify the PS-STA of interest, and possibly additionally informationabout the data to be retrieved. Destination address information includesthe address of the router 44, the address of the Wi-Fi-enabled poweroutlet 42 that controls the PS-STA of interest and the address of thePS-STA 39 itself. PS-STA address is typically required where multiplePS-STAs are connected to, for example, a single Wi-Fi-enabled poweroutlet. The poll request is transmitted over the WLAN 47 in the office,and via Internet router 48 transported over the Internet to the Internetrouter 44 at the home. At the user's home, the poll request is directedto the Wi-Fi-enabled power outlet that coordinates the PS-STA ofinterest. The Wi-Fi-enabled power outlet receives this request over thehome's infrastructure WLAN. If the requested information has alreadybeen retrieved from the PS-STA during a previous data transfer event,the Wi-Fi-enabled power outlet responds to the poll request by sendingthe requested information over the home's infrastructure WLAN 43 to theInternet router that is connected to the home's WLAN AP. The requestedinformation is transported over the Internet to the Internet router atthe office, and from there directed to the user's laptop over theoffices WLAN infrastructure network. Application software on the user'slaptop receives the information and presents it to the user. In case therequested information has not yet been previously retrieved from thePS-STA, the Wi-Fi-enabled outlet does so during the next scheduled WPANcommunication event. The timing of the occurrence of this event,depends, in part, on the power management techniques used for the WPANcommunication.

To conserve power, the PS-STAs are typically mostly in sleep mode andonly occasionally wake up as needed to transmit or receive data and/orcontrol signals. When connected to the WPAN coordinated by theWi-Fi-enabled power outlet 42, a PS-STA 39 is synchronized to theWi-Fi-enabled power outlet 42, which as part of the infrastructurenetwork, is in turn synchronized to the AP 45. The synchronizationbetween the PS-STAs and the Wi-Fi-enabled power outlet ensures that theWi-Fi-enabled power outlet is in WPAN mode at the same time that aPS-STA wakes up to transmit or receive. The above example describes aninstance where the information from a single PS-STA is remotelyaccessed, using a Wi-Fi-enabled power outlet. It is understood that thewireless hub does not have to be a Wi-Fi-enabled power outlet, and maybe any wireless hub, as described above. Furthermore, it is understoodthat multiple PS-STAs may be connected to a single as well as tomultiple wireless hubs. The present invention may also be used toactivate or steer PS-STAs, in addition to monitoring or retrievinginformation.

In some embodiments, rather than having data transfer be triggered by apoll request, the PS-STAs may also transmit data to the wireless hubperiodically. In such embodiments, the retrieved data can be storedand/or processed locally on the wireless hub, or, alternatively, betransferred to a different location.

The association of a PS-STA with a wireless hub may or may not bestatic. In some embodiments, the PS-STA may be attached to a movingobject, in which case the nearest wireless hub is dynamic and may changeover time. This scenario is common in the context of medicalmonitoring/treatment. In such embodiments, medical sensors and stimulusdevices in, on and around a person's body communicate to a nearbywireless hub that acts as a seamless bridge between the low-power WPANand the longer-range WLAN. As the person/patient moves around the house,the nearest wireless hub may change over time. In such applications,seamless transitioning between wireless hubs is carried out and includesdynamic association capabilities inside the PS-STA, as well as softwareon the wireless hub side to seamlessly handle the required hand-offsamong wireless hubs. The present invention is also applicable, forexample, to the following situations:

-   -   Remote medical monitoring    -   Medical monitoring/treatment in hospitals    -   In-house monitoring and control from any location to any        location    -   Industrial monitoring/warehouse monitoring    -   Home automation    -   Energy metering    -   PC, cell phone and home entertainment peripherals and        accessories

The following are among the advantages of embodiments of the presentinvention:

-   -   Cost savings associated with infrastructure/hardware re-use    -   Integration of low-power short-range networks in the ubiquitous        WLAN infrastructure results in cost savings since        already-present hardware can be re-used. Little or no dedicated        set up is required to enable the short-range connectivity    -   IP-addressable PS-STAs, enabling remote monitoring    -   Low-power short-range networks typically act as isolated        networks. As a consequence, such networks can only be accessed        when in close vicinity. This enables access to the WPAN from any        location that is within the coverage area of the WLAN, or even        from a remote location. Unlike other low-power wireless        technologies, the power-sensitive nodes described herein are        IP-addressable and, consequently, can be monitored and/or        controlled from any location that has Internet access.    -   Long-range connectivity is achieved, without putting the        associated burden on the power-sensitive device    -   The burden of achieving long-range connectivity is shifted away        from the power-sensitive device onto the wireless hub. Since        typically, the wireless hub is a powered device, power        dissipation is not much of an issue.    -   As a result, a power-sensitive battery-operated device can be        connected to the ubiquitous WLAN infrastructure without having        to bear the consequences in terms of power dissipation and        protocol overhead that are typically associated with this.

Specific Examples

A WPAN is a short-range wireless network, with typical coverage rangeson the order of 30 feet, usable to connect peripherals to devices inclose proximity, thereby eliminating cables usually present for suchconnections. For example, a WPAN might be used to connect a headset to amobile phone or music/audio player, a mouse or keyboard to a laptop, aPDA or laptop to a mobile phone (for syncing, phone number lookup or thelike), etc. Yet another example of a WPAN application is a wirelessmedical monitoring device that wirelessly connects monitoring hardwareto a pager or similar read-out device. Yet another example is a remotecontrol that connects to a wireless-enabled electronic device.

A WPAN is generally used for the interconnection of informationtechnology devices within the range of an individual person, typicallywithin a range of 10 meters. For example, a person traveling with alaptop will likely be the sole user of that laptop and will be the sameperson handling the personal digital assistant (“PDA”) and portableprinter that interconnect to the laptop without having to plug anythingin, using some form of wireless technology. Typically, PAN nodesinteract wirelessly, but nothing herein would preclude having some wirednodes. By contrast, a WLAN tends to be a local area network (“LAN”) thatis connected without wires and serves multiple users.

Communication with the WPAN device might use an SWN protocol that isonly partially compliant with the protocol used over a conventional WLANand might do so without interference from the conventional WLAN, yetusage of the WLAN is such that the WPAN device and computing device cancommunicate without interference. To reduce interference, the computingdevice coordinates the usage of the wireless medium with devices of aWLAN that may be active in the same space. Coordination is achieved bythe use of a secondary network (WPAN) protocol that is an overlayprotocol that is partially compatible with the WLAN protocol, but notentirely, in terms of power, frame contents and sequences, timing, etc.The secondary network (WPAN) protocols might be 802.11x frames with newframe arrangements adapted for WPAN needs, such as reduced latency,power etc. The computing device might determine to signal the primarynetwork (WLAN) such that devices therein defer so that communicationscan occur with the secondary network.

In the general example, the computing device is a portable and/or mobilecomputing and/or communications device with some computing capability.Examples of computing devices include laptop computers, desktopcomputers, handheld computing devices, pagers, cellular telephones,devices with embedded communications abilities and the like. Examples ofperipheral devices include typical computer, telephone etc. accessorieswhere wireless connections are desired, but might also include lesscommon devices, such as wearable devices that communicate with otherdevices on a person or even to communicate with other nearby devices,possibly using the electrical conductivity of the human body as a datanetwork. For example, two people could exchange information betweentheir wearable computers without wires, by transmission through the air,or using their bodies and/or clothing.

The computing devices may interface to 802.11WLANs or other wirelessnetworks to communicate with other network nodes, including nodesaccessible through wired connections to the wireless network (typicallyvia an access point). The computing devices also may interface to PANdevices over a WPAN, such as wireless headsets, mice, keyboards,accessories, recorders, telephones and the like. A wide variety of PANdevices are contemplated that are adapted for short-range wirelesscommunications, typically bi-directional and typically low power so asto conserve a PAN device's limited power source. Some PAN devices mightbe unidirectional, either receive-only or transmit-only, devices.

In a typical approach, where a STA needs to connect to more than onewireless network, the STA associates with one wireless network and thenwhen associating with another wireless network, it disassociates withthe first wireless network. While this is useful for a WLAN where a STAmight move out of one network's range and into the range of anothernetwork, this is not desirable when latency needs to be less than anassociation set-up time. The latency incurred with this switchingprocedure easily amounts to several hundreds of milliseconds.

In certain applications, it may be desirable for a STA to connect tomultiple networks without incurring long switching-induced latencies.For example, consider a typical PER device, that of a cordless mouse.Since update rates for a cordless mouse during normal operation are onthe order of 50 to 125 times per second, switching-induced latenciesinvolved with 802.11x association set ups are not acceptable.Furthermore, the switching overhead significantly reduces the STA'susable communication time, defined as the time that the STA is availableto transmit or receive data.

In a specific embodiment of the invention, a wireless peripheral like amouse, is attached to an 802.11x-enabled computing device like a laptopcomputer, using the 802.11x wireless circuitry inside the laptop, orconnected to the laptop via a NIC card. At the same time, the laptop maybe connected to the Internet via a regular WLAN network, using the same802.11x circuitry. Herein, a peripheral or WPAN node will be referred toas “PER”. Multiple PERs can connect to a single WPAN. The wirelessdevice coordinating the WPAN is called the coordinator (“COORD”). Wherethe COORD is also able to connect to the 802.11x network, the COORD isreferred to as a “dual-net” device, since it handles both networks. Atypical dual-net device in this example is a device that is a STA on an802.11x network while also having wireless peripherals used byapplications running on that device.

While not always required, the PERs are power-sensitive devices. Itshould be understood that an object labeled “PER” need not be aperipheral in the sense of an object with a purpose to serve aparticular purpose, but rather an object that performs the behaviorsherein referred to as behaviors of a WPAN node. For example, a printercan be a PER when it is connected to a desktop computer via a WPAN, butsome other device not normally thought of as a peripheral can be a PERif it behaves as one.

FIG. 8 illustrates various devices operating as part of a primarywireless network (“PWN”) 100, a secondary wireless network (“SWN”) (suchas 114 or 116), or both. In the figure, an access point (“AP”) 110supports an infrastructure mode for PWN 100, coupling various stationsto the network allowing, for example, network traffic between a stationand a wired network 112. By communicating with the AP, a station canretrieve information from the Internet and exchange data with otherstations that may or may not be part of the Basic Service Set (“BSS”)managed by the AP.

As shown in the example, the stations present are STA1, STA2, STA3 andSTA4. Each station is associated with a node in PWN 100 and has thenecessary hardware, logic, power, etc. to be a node device in PWN 100.Station STA1 also coordinates SWN 114 as the COORD for that networkshown comprising PER1, PER2 and PER3. Likewise, station STA4 coordinatesSWN 116 as the COORD for the network comprising STA4, PER10 and PER11.In FIG. 8, each node device is shown with an antenna to indicate that itcan communicate wirelessly, but it should be understood that an externalantenna is not required.

Other network components and additional instances might also be present.For example, more than one AP might be present, there might be overlapsof BSSes and other network topologies might be used instead of the exactone shown in FIG. 8 without departing from the scope of the invention.Examples used herein for PWN 100 include 802.11x (x=a, b, g, n, etc.),but it should be understood that the primary wireless network may wellbe another network selected among those in present use or available whenthe primary wireless network is implemented.

In this example, the secondary wireless networks are assumed to be usedfor WPAN functionality. The WPAN can be used for, but is not limited to,fixed data rate applications where exchange of data can be scheduled andthe amount of data to be exchanged is known and a single dual-net devicemight interface with multiple PERs. Because the dual-net device may be aregular STA in the first WLAN, it can power-down as needed withoutproblems, unlike an access point. However, since it is also the COORD,peripheral communication could be lost if the peripheral is powered upbut the dual-net device/COORD is not. This can be dealt with usingmutually agreeable inactivity periods.

FIG. 8 shows, at a high level, the interplay among various nodes ofvarious networks. FIG. 9 illustrates a subpart of the elements of FIG.8, illustrating in greater detail. In this figure, AP 110 is coupled towired network 112 via cable 120 and might communicate using any suitablewire-based networking protocol. On the other side, AP 110 transmitssignals to a station device, in this case a laptop 122, using the AP'santenna and those signals are received by laptop 112 using its antenna.Signals can also flow in the other direction. Such communications wouldbe done according to a PWN protocol, such as an 802.11x protocol.

Laptop 122 (a dual-net device in this example) in turn can communicatewith the peripherals shown, in this example a wireless mouse (“PER1”)124 and a wireless printer (“PER2”) 126. It may be that power forwireless printer 126 comes from an external power outlet, in which casepower consumption might be less of a concern than with mouse 124 if itoperates on battery power. Nonetheless, both peripherals might use thesame power-saving protocol. Power conservation might also be performedon the dual-net device, for example, when it is a laptop.

To conserve power at the WPAN device and the computing device, they canagree on an inactivity time and disable at least a part of acoordination function of the computing device following a start of theinactivity time, wherein disabling is such that less power per unit timeis consumed by the network circuit relative to power consumed when notdisabled.

Coordination of Multiple PERs

When a secondary network includes multiple PERs as illustrated in FIG.10, it may be desirable to coordinate data exchanges in order tominimize the power dissipation, as well as to minimize the WM occupancy.A method to coordinate the communication between a COORD and multiplePERs is shown in FIG. 11.

At time T₀, the COORD and PERs are programmed to start the frameexchange. If power-save modes are implemented in the COORD or the PERs,a wake-up request will be issued prior to T₀, to ensure that allnecessary circuits are powered up at time T₀. At time T₀, the COORDcontends for the WM and, optionally using the highest priority queue(AC-VO) transmits a first frame, frame 1. The duration field of thisframe has been increased to reserve the WM for the subsequent frametransmission by the PERs of the secondary network that are scheduled fora frame exchange during the current frame exchange sequence. Theduration field might have been passed during the pairing state, so thatthe PER and COORD both know and agree on its value.

Furthermore, frame 1 contains a list of PERs it expects to respond, aswell as an offset for each scheduled PER. At the specified offset, eachPER is awake and responds with a frame containing its data (frame 2P1and frame 2P2). Optionally, the COORD acknowledges error free receptionof the frame, or the COORD can respond with a frame that includes datato be transmitted from the COORD to the frame. Optionally, the PERacknowledges error free reception of the latter frame. Optionally, PERscan return to sleep during the time slots where the COORD iscommunicating with other PERs.

If one or more of the transmissions were not successful, the COORD maysend an additional frame immediately following the above described framesequence to reserve the medium for additional time to allow forretransmissions. This frame contains the PERs for which retransmissionis desirable as well as the corresponding offsets for each PER. PERsthat received acknowledgment of their transmission do not have to wakeup to listen to this additional frame. In one embodiment, it may be leftup to a PER to decide whether it will consider retransmission.

An alternative frame exchange sequence for the coordination of multiplePERs is illustrated in FIG. 12. In this embodiment, the COORD polls eachPER individually. At the start of a Service Period (“SP”), the COORDcontends for the WM and after gaining access to the WM, the COORD pollsthe PERs in its secondary network one by one with 1 SIFS spaceintervals. The latter avoids the situation where the COORD has tocontend for the WM for each PER in its secondary network.

To conserve power in the PERs, the expected time for communication witheach PER can be pre-calculated based on the number of PERs that arescheduled to be polled prior to the respective PER and their scheduledtraffic size.

In case a transmission fails, a retransmission mechanism can beinitiated. Alternatively, the COORD may poll the next PER and come backto the failed transmission later, after it has polled all other PERs forwhich a traffic stream (“TS”) has been set up.

Before entering the ACTIVE state, a COORD and PER first go through thePAIRING and CONNECTION states. The first step in establishing a newconnection is device PAIRING. Device pairing comprises the first timeconfiguration steps for linking a PER to a COORD.

Device Discovery

During a device discovery procedure, MAC address information isexchanged between the COORD and the PER. A dedicated configurationpushbutton or a simple user action will be used to initiate devicediscovery. Upon such user intervention, the COORD and PER both enter a“limited discoverable mode” for a certain period of time that is longenough to finish the device discovery procedure. Both COORD and PER caninitiate the discovery procedure. The device that initiates thediscovery procedure is called the “initiator”; the other device ishereafter referred to as the “follower”.

Upon entering discoverable mode, the initiator sends a broadcastdiscovery request. The broadcast discovery request is a broadcast frame,and may contain information such as the initiator's MAC address, and thetype of devices that should respond. A follower in discoverable moderesponds to a broadcast discovery request with a discovery response. Thediscovery response frame is a unicast frame that is addressed to theinitiator.

For security reasons, it is advisable that the amount of informationexchanged while in discoverable mode is minimized. However, ifappropriate, additional information can be exchanged during the devicediscovery procedure. For example, if generated by the COORD, thebroadcast discovery frame may optionally contain information on the WLANconnectivity status (infrastructure/ad-hoc/unconnected, operatingchannel, power-save, etc.). If generated by the PER, the broadcastdiscovery frame may optionally contain information about the type ofPER.

In one embodiment, the COORD acts as the initiator and sends anIEEE802.11 probe request frame. The SSID parameter of the broadcastprobe request frame may be used to communicate specific information tothe PER, in this case the follower. More specifically, the SSID field inthe frame body can be used as a frame type identifier and to sendadditional information to a follower. For example, specific bits of theSSID can be used to identify the over-the-air protocol. Other bits ofthe SSID can be reserved to identify the frame as a broadcast discoveryrequest frame. The remainder of the bits can be reserved or used tocommunicate additional information about the COORD or the WLAN it isassociated with to the PER (follower).

In another embodiment, a data frame or standard or proprietary IBSSbeacon frame or other management frame is used as a broadcast discoveryrequest frame.

Upon receiving the broadcast device discovery request frame, the PER indiscoverable mode (the follower) responds by sending a unicast discoveryresponse frame.

This can be a unicast IEEE802.11probe response frame. The probe responseframe is addressed to the initiator, and structured such that it isrecognized as a discovery response frame by the initiator.Alternatively, the discovery response frame can be a data frameformatted to be recognized by the COORD as a discovery response frame.

A device discovery channel can be pre-defined in the protocol. In thatcase, an initiator put into discoverable mode will, by default, startsending broadcast discovery requests on the pre-defined channel, and afollower put in discoverable mode will, by default, listen for abroadcast discovery request on the pre-defined channel.

When device discovery is initiated, and no device discovery channel ispre-defined, the initiator and follower may need to search for eachother. Either the initiator or the follower may perform this search. Ifthe initiator performs the search, the follower listens on a fixedchannel, while the initiator scans different channels, by subsequentlytransmitting broadcast discovery request frames on different channels.Alternatively, when the follower performs the search, the initiatortransmits broadcast discovery request frames on a fixed channel atT_(discovery) time intervals, while the follower performs a passive scanby listening for a broadcast discovery request on different channels.Note that the follower should stay on a single channel for at leastT_(discovery) to ensure it will capture a broadcast discovery frame.

At the conclusion of the device discovery procedure, at a minimum, theinitiator and follower have knowledge of each other's MAC address andcurrent operating channel of the COORD's primary network.

Variations

Other variations should be apparent upon review of this disclosure.

While the present invention has been described herein with reference toparticular embodiments thereof, a latitude of modification, variouschanges, and substitutions are intended in the present invention. Insome instances, features of the invention can be employed without acorresponding use of other features, without departing from the scope ofthe invention as set forth. Therefore, many modifications may be made toadapt a particular configuration or method disclosed, without departingfrom the essential scope and spirit of the present invention. It isintended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodimentsdisclosed, but that the invention will include all embodiments andequivalents falling within the scope of the claims.

1-7. (canceled)
 8. A network-enabled hub, usable for facilitating datacommunications between two or more wireless devices that are configuredto communicate indirectly with each other via the network-enabled hub,comprising: an interface to a wireless radio circuit that can send andreceive data wirelessly, providing the hub with bi-directional wirelessdata communication capability; at least one processor configured to:process data received via the wireless radio circuit; generate data tobe transmitted by the wireless radio circuit; initiate and maintainnetwork connections with nodes of a wireless network external to thenetwork-enabled hub, maintaining at least a first network connectionusing a first network protocol and a second network connection using asecond network protocol, that can be maintained, at times,simultaneously with each other, wherein the second network protocol isan overlay protocol with respect to the first network protocol in thatthe first network protocol comprises 802.11x frames, and the secondnetwork protocol comprises 802.11x frames having a frame arrangementadapted for reduced power consumption by the second network connection;and implement data forwarding logic, implemented in the network-enabledhub using hardware and/or software, that forwards data between anoriginating node and a destination node, wherein the originating node isa node in one of the first and second networks and the destination nodeis a node in the other of the first and second networks.
 9. Thenetwork-enabled hub of claim 8, further comprising a routing module forreceiving a poll request that contains information required tounambiguously identify a station that is a node in the second network,wherein the routing module coordinates retrieval of information from thestation.
 10. The network-enabled hub of claim 8, wherein the firstnetwork connection provides a link via an access point of a wireless LANand the second network connection provides a link to a personal areanetwork (“PAN”) serving PAN devices, such that network nodes that haveaccess to the wireless LAN can address packets to PAN devices that arenodes on the PAN.
 11. The network-enabled hub of claim 10, wherein thenetwork-enabled hub is configured to accept packets from the PAN deviceswhere the packets are addressed to network devices that are accessibleonly via the network-enabled hub.
 12. The network-enabled hub of claim10, further comprising: at least one software module forming a softwareplatform that allows the wireless radio circuit to connect to both thewireless LAN and the PAN; and an operating system that enables operationof the network-enabled hub and execution of user-writtenapplication-specific application software for the network-enabled hub.13. The network-enabled hub of claim 8, wherein the second networkprotocol is a protocol that requires lower average power consumptionover time relative to the first network protocol.
 14. Thenetwork-enabled hub of claim 8, wherein the first network protocol is an802.11x wireless protocol and the second network protocol is amodification of the 802.11x wireless protocol that is not entirelycompliant with the 802.11x wireless protocol of the first network butcan be maintained in a common wireless space as the 802.11x wirelessprotocol.
 15. A network-enabled hub, usable for facilitating datacommunications between two or more wireless devices that are configuredto communicate indirectly with each other over a wireless network viathe network-enabled hub, comprising: a wireless network radio circuitthat can send and receive data wirelessly, providing the hub withbi-directional wireless data communication capability; a processorconfigured to: process data received via the wireless radio circuit;generate data to be transmitted by the wireless radio circuit; initiateand maintain a first network connection for exchanging data over thewireless network with a first node external to the network-enabled hub,using a first network protocol comprising frames having 802.11xarrangements; initiate and maintain a second network connection forexchanging data over the wireless network with a second node external tothe network-enabled hub, using a second network protocol comprisingframes having 802.11x arrangements modified to support reduced powerconsumption by the second network; coordinate data exchanges over thewireless network with the first node using the first network protocoland the second node using the second network protocol; and implementdata forwarding logic that forwards data between the first node and thesecond node.
 16. The network-enabled hub of claim 15, wherein incoordinating data exchanges over the wireless network with the firstnode using the first network protocol, the controller is configured todefer exchanging data over the first network connection for a durationof time during which data can be exchanged over the second networkconnection.
 17. The network-enabled hub of claim 15, wherein incoordinating data exchanges over the wireless network with the secondnode using the second network protocol, the controller is configured todefer exchanging data over the second network connection for a durationof time during which data can be exchanged over the first networkconnection.
 18. The network-enabled hub of claim 16, wherein incoordinating data exchanges over the wireless network with the secondnode using the second network protocol, the controller is configured todefer exchanging data over the second network connection for a durationof time during which data can be exchanged over the first networkconnection.
 19. The network-enabled hub of claim 15, wherein the secondnetwork protocol is used to define an inactivity time for the secondnetwork connection.
 20. The network-enabled hub of claim 19, wherein atleast a part of the wireless network radio circuit is disabled followinga start of the inactivity time.
 21. The network-enabled hub of claim 20,wherein the wireless network radio circuit is disabled by making itconsume less power per unit time, relative to power per unit time itconsumed when not disabled.
 22. The network-enabled hub of claim 15,wherein in coordinating data exchanges over the wireless network, thecontroller is configured to minimize power dissipation by thenetwork-enabled hub.
 23. The network-enabled hub of claim 22, wherein incoordinating data exchanges over the wireless network, the controller isconfigured to process a wake-up request to power-up the wireless radiocircuit.
 24. The network-enabled hub of claim 22, wherein incoordinating data exchanges over the wireless network, the controller isconfigured to initiate transmission of a wake-up request to power-up thesecond node.
 25. The network-enabled hub of claim 15, wherein incoordinating data exchanges over the wireless network, the controller isconfigured to minimize occupancy of the wireless network by thenetwork-enabled hub.
 26. The network-enabled hub of claim 15, wherein incoordinating data exchanges over the wireless network, the controller isconfigured to reduce interference between the first network connectionand the second network connection.
 27. The network-enabled hub of claim15, wherein the controller is configured to switch from the firstwireless connection to the second wireless connection, and wherein alatency of the switching is less than a latency of an association set-uptime for the second wireless connection with the second node.
 28. Thenetwork-enabled hub of claim 22, wherein the controller is configured tominimize power dissipation by pre-calculating an expected time forcommunication with the second node based at least in part on a scheduledtraffic size or a number of nodes in the second network.